On October 2, dozens of the region’s best restaurants, ice cream shops, breweries and vineyards will come together to celebrate the bounty of local food available in New York City. For the sixth year in a row, Just Food will host its cocktail-style tasting benefit Let Us Eat Local.
Just Food is a nonprofit organization that connects communities and local farms with the resources and support they need to make fresh, locally grown food accessible to all New Yorkers. Proceeds from the fund-raiser will go toward programming for the coming year.
Each year, the event begins with a themed “VIP hour,” and this year’s VIPs will enjoy cocktails with Blue Island oysters from L & W Oyster Co. General admission opens at 7:30 with unlimited locally sourced tastings from more than fifty vendors.
“A bunch of restaurants have come back every single year, and we love having them. Blue Hill, Gramercy Tavern, il Buco, Telepan, and Esca will all be back this year,” Jessica Gaffney, events and marketing director at Just Food, told us. “There are also a lot of great new restaurants, like Marlow & Sons, Franny’s, and Egg and Parish Hall.”
One of the highlights of this year’s event will be the ice cream contest. Seven purveyors will be serving locally sourced ice cream, each of a different flavor, and the favorite will be decided by five guest judges: Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, co-founders of Food52, Yelp community director Ruggy Joesten, Food Republic editorial director Richard Martin and Saxelby Cheesemongers co-founder Anne Saxelby.
Guests can make their own sundaes, but they will not participate in the judging. “Last year’s pie contest included a fan favorite, but people had to taste five pies. It’s hard to ask people to eat seven scoops of ice cream,” Gaffney said.
For more information, check out the event website.
